1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to an outboard motor control apparatus, particularly to an apparatus for controlling driving force of a prime mover (internal combustion engine) mounted on an outboard motor to mitigate load on the operator caused by manipulating of a shift lever.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, there is proposed a technique of an outboard motor control apparatus to displace a clutch in response to the manipulation of a shift lever by the operator, so that a shift position can be switched between a so-called in-gear position, i.e., forward or reverse position, in which a forward or reverse gear is in engagement and the driving force of a prime mover (internal combustion engine) is transmitted to a propeller, and a neutral position in which the engagement is released and the transmission of the driving force is cut off, as taught, for example, by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Hei 3 (1991)-79496.
In the reference, a contact switch is provided at the shift lever and when a fact that the shift lever is manipulated from the in-gear position to the neutral position and reaches a predetermined manipulation position, is detected through the switch, the ignition cut-off of the engine (prime mover) is carried out to start driving force decreasing control. Consequently, it makes easy to release the engagement of the clutch with the forward or reverse gear (in-gear condition), thereby mitigating burden or load on the operator caused by the shift lever manipulation.